Hyderabad-based Karachi Bakery on Saturday said it was “absolutely Indian” after protests were reported outside one of its Bengaluru outlets on Friday.
Protestors were ostensibly objecting to the fact that the company bears the name of a city in Pakistan, which they have accused of supporting terrorism against India. Photos accessed by Scroll.in showed the word “Karachi” on the bakery’s signboard covered at a Bengaluru branch. The incident was reported a week after the terror attack in Pulwama, for which Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility.
Karachi Bakery on Saturday clarified that it was founded by Khanchand Ramnani, who migrated to India during the Partition. It said the brand was established in 1953 and is an Indian company.
“The essence of Karachi Bakery is absolutely Indian by heart and will remain so,” it said in a statement on Twitter. “We request everybody to refrain from any kind of misconceptions.”
Other outlets of Karachi Bakery in Bengaluru have also received threatening calls since February 17 from groups demanding that the firm should change its name or shut down the business, employees said. Employees at the company’s Mahadevapura outlet said that they had complained to the police about the calls.
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